The musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause: why your whole body aches, and what can help
By Softer Mind · Updated 15 October 2026 · 7 min read · Based on NHS guidance and published research
You ache in places you never used to. Your shoulders, your hips, your hands, your back. You feel stiff when you get out of bed or stand up after sitting. You may feel weaker, or slower to bounce back after a walk. Nothing shows up as wrong, but your body feels older than it did a couple of years ago.
If that sounds familiar, you may have come across the phrase "musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause". It's a new name for an old problem: the aches, stiffness and changes in muscle and bone that many women notice around perimenopause and menopause.
So yes, perimenopause body aches are common and real. The NHS lists muscle aches and joint pains among the symptoms of menopause. But aches have many causes, so it's worth knowing what this new term does and doesn't mean, and when to get checked.
See a GP urgently or call 999 if:
- Call 999 or go to A&E if you have very bad pain after a fall or injury, you can't walk or put weight on a joint, or a joint looks out of place.
- Get an urgent GP appointment or call 111 if a joint is swollen and feels hot, or you have aches and feel generally unwell, with a high temperature or feeling hot, cold or shivery.
- Book a GP appointment if your joints are stiff for more than 30 minutes after you wake up, the pain hasn't improved after 2 weeks of looking after it at home, or it's stopping you doing normal things or affecting your sleep.
This list is from the NHS joint pain page. If you have aching, stiff shoulders or hips and also a new, sudden headache, jaw pain when you eat, or problems with your sight, contact a GP straight away or call 111.
What is the musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause?
"Musculoskeletal" just means your muscles, bones, joints, tendons and ligaments. The term musculoskeletal syndrome of menopause was put forward in a 2024 review in the journal Climacteric by a team of US doctors.
Their point was simple. Doctors and women often treat each ache as a separate problem: a sore shoulder here, stiff knees there. The authors argue that many of these problems share one root, which is falling oestrogen, and that giving them one name helps women and doctors join the dots. They modelled it on the "genitourinary syndrome of menopause", an older name for vaginal and bladder changes after menopause.
It's not a separate disease, and there's no test for it. It's a label for a group of symptoms.
What does it include?
The review lists these as part of the picture:
- general aches and pains in the muscles and joints
- stiff, sore joints, and arthritis getting worse (especially osteoarthritis)
- frozen shoulder
- losing muscle, and feeling weaker or less steady on your feet
- losing bone, which raises the risk of breaking a bone
- more injuries to tendons and ligaments
You might recognise some of these from our pages on menopause joint pain, hip pain in menopause and back pain in menopause. The review also lists back pain, loss of height and a stooped back as possible signs of thinning bones.
How common are perimenopause body aches?
Very common. A 2020 review pooled 16 studies. It found that about 71% of women in perimenopause had muscle or joint pain. Women in perimenopause were more likely to have aches than women who hadn't reached that stage yet.
The 2024 review estimates that more than 70% of women will have muscle or bone symptoms through the menopause transition, and that a quarter will find them disabling.
These numbers come with a health warning. The 2020 review's authors point out that most of the studies took a single snapshot in time and relied on women reporting their own symptoms. So they show that aches and menopause often go together. They can't prove one causes the other.
Why does menopause make your muscles and joints ache?
Nobody knows the full answer yet. Here's what the research suggests.
Oestrogen does more than run your periods. The Menopause Charity explains that joints have oestrogen receptors, and that oestrogen helps protect joints and keep inflammation down. When it falls, inflammation can go up.
Muscle gets harder to keep. Women's Health Concern, the patient arm of the British Menopause Society, says falling oestrogen causes muscle mass to drop. It also says falling oestrogen speeds up bone loss, which raises the risk of osteoporosis.
Age plays a part too. Women's Health Concern notes that everyone loses some muscle with age anyway. And the NHS says osteoarthritis usually affects people over 45. So it can be hard to tell how much is menopause and how much is simply getting older.
What the evidence does and doesn't show
It's worth being honest here. The 2024 paper is a review, not a new study. It gathers what's already known and makes a case for a new name. A lot of the detail about how oestrogen affects muscle comes from animal studies.
The authors are keen on HRT. But they also say many questions are still open, including whether starting HRT early could stop some of these problems from developing. They describe HRT for osteoarthritis as controversial.
What they do agree on is exercise. They call it perhaps the only approach that isn't controversial.
What else could be causing aches all over?
Please don't assume every ache is the menopause. Other causes include:
| Cause | Clues |
|---|---|
| Osteoarthritis | Usually over 45. Pain that's worse when walking, and stiff after moving |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | Pain and stiffness on both sides of the body, worse after resting |
| A strain, bursitis or gout | A strain often follows hard or repeated exercise. Gout often starts suddenly in the big toe |
| Polymyalgia rheumatica | Pain and stiffness around the shoulders, neck and hips, worst in the morning. More common in women, mostly over 65 and rare under 50 |
The NHS says to see a GP if you have pain and stiffness like this for more than a week. It's one reason long-lasting morning stiffness should always be checked.
If it's mainly your legs that bother you at night, see our page on restless legs.
What helps perimenopause muscle aches?
There's very little research on the musculoskeletal syndrome itself. Most advice comes from what helps aches, muscles and bones in general. The good news is that it's practical.
Keep moving
It sounds odd when you hurt, but moving is one of the best things you can do. Women's Health Concern says regular exercise can help with joint and muscle pain, "contrary to popular belief". It suggests three types, each as important as the others:
- Strength exercise to build and keep muscle. Try body weight squats, box press-ups, tummy curls and bicep curls.
- Steps and walking. Walking is weight-bearing, which helps strengthen bones. Start with something manageable, such as a 15-minute walk, and build up.
- Restorative exercise such as yoga and Pilates, for strength and flexibility.
Look after sore joints
The NHS joint pain advice includes:
- rest a sore joint if you can, but don't stop moving it completely
- hold an ice pack or a bag of frozen peas, wrapped in a towel, on it for up to 20 minutes every 2 to 3 hours
- ask a pharmacist or GP which painkiller is right for you
- eat a balanced diet, keep active, aim for a healthy weight and don't smoke
Protect your sleep
Aches and broken sleep feed each other. Women's Health Concern lists joint aches among the menopause symptoms that can disturb sleep. Its tips include:
- go to bed and get up at the same time every day
- keep your bedroom cool, dark and quiet
- exercise regularly, but not too close to bedtime
- build a calming wind-down routine, such as a bath, a book or music
What can your GP offer?
Your GP can examine you and look for other causes. Things to talk about include:
- Physiotherapy, with exercises for the parts that hurt most.
- Pain relief that's safe for you.
- HRT. The Menopause Charity says aches and pains can often improve with HRT. The research on HRT for aches on their own is still limited, so it's worth weighing up with your GP, especially if you have other menopause symptoms too.
- Your bones. If you've broken a bone easily, or have lost height, ask whether your bone health should be checked.
Write down your symptoms before you go. It helps to show the whole picture, not just the worst ache that week.
When to see a GP
Book an appointment if:
- your joints are swollen, or stiff for more than 30 minutes each morning
- the aches haven't improved after 2 weeks of looking after them at home
- they get in the way of work, sleep or everyday things
- you feel generally unwell, have a fever or are losing weight without trying
- you have other menopause symptoms and want to talk about your options
Where relaxation fits in
If aches and pains are keeping you awake at night, our menopause sleep hypnosis, Deep Sleep Through the Change, is a bedtime recording to help you relax and drift off. It won't do anything for the aches themselves, so keep moving and keep talking to your GP. It's a relaxation recording, not a treatment, and it doesn't replace advice from your GP.
Related
You might also find our pages on menopause joint pain, frozen shoulder and menopause and hip pain in menopause useful, or see all the perimenopause symptoms.
This page is general information, not medical advice. If you're worried about any symptom, please talk to your GP or pharmacist.
